After digging himself out of difficult situations over and over during the course of a riveting encounter that lasted more than 4½ hours, Nadal suddenly faltered, getting broken in the last game and losing to 16th-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday.

"It's tough to say what, exactly, made the difference at the end," Muller said. "To be honest, I haven't really realized what just happened."

The surprising defeat extended Nadal's drought without a quarterfinal berth at the All England Club to six years.

Muller's powerful serve and crisp volleys make him what Nadal called "uncomfortable" to play. And Muller — who already owned one victory over Nadal at Wimbledon, back in the second round in 2005 — managed to pull this one out, unfazed despite allowing opportunities to pass him by.

Nadal served from behind throughout the final set and was twice a point from losing in its 10th game. He again was twice a point from losing in the 20th. Only when Muller got yet another chance to end it did he, when Nadal got broken by pushing a forehand long.

"When you are in the fifth, against a player like him, (the outcome) just depends on a few balls," Nadal said, shaking his head. "Actually, he was a little better than me on a few balls."

One key: Nadal converted only 2-of-16 break points. That included going 0-for-5 in the fifth set, four in one game, and was a big reason that the No. 4-seeded Spaniard lost despite remarkable totals of 77 winners and 17 unforced errors.

The other men's quarterfinals matchups: defending champion Andy Murray against Sam Querrey of the U.S., Roger Federer against Milos Raonic, and Tomas Berdych against Novak Djokovic or Adrian Mannarino. The Djokovic-Mannarino fourth-rounder was postponed until Tuesday; it had been scheduled to be played on No. 1 Court after Nadal-Muller concluded.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams is the oldest woman in the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 1994. Johanna Konta is the first British woman to make it that far since 1984. Angelique Kerber's loss means she'll relinquish the No. 1 ranking.

Jelena Ostapenko needed eight match points for her latest win — and latest proof that last month's French Open title was no fluke. Magdalena Rybarikova, a Slovakian ranked 87th, reached her first quarterfinal in 36 Grand Slam tournaments.

Those were among the significant goings-on in women's fourth-round action at the All England Club on Monday, when another topic took hold: Why were so few of these matches played on the tournament's biggest courts?

"I mean, honestly, I didn't think about that," the 13th-seeded Ostapenko said, then quickly added: "But, I mean, yeah, I think I deserve to play on a better court than Court 12, I guess."

The site of her 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over No. 4 Elina Svitolina has a seating capacity of 1,065, making it only the fifth largest for the event.

Garbine Muguruza beat Kerber 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at Court No. 2, with its 4,063 seats, in a matchup between the past two Wimbledon runners-up, a pair of players with a combined three major championships, and the woman atop the WTA rankings (well, until next week).

Five-time champion Williams played in the main stadium, winning 31 of 36 first-serve points while overpowering 27th-seeded Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-3, 6-2.

Williams, a vocal advocate for Wimbledon's switch in 2007 to equal prize money for the genders, said about the court assignments: "I'm sure that the women ... would want more matches on Centre or Court No. 1 over the whole fortnight."

Over on No. 1 Court, Konta won 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 against No. 21 Caroline Garcia of France. Not since Jo Durie 33 years ago has the host country had a woman in the quarterfinals.

Britain's last female champion was Virginia Wade in 1977.

"I've dreamed of it ever since I was a little girl — to be a Grand Slam champion," said Konta, who had won just one match in five previous Wimbledon appearances.

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